Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Deeply indebted to Terrence Malick's style. So much so, it never really becomes its own thing (unlike, say, Beasts of the Southern Wild, which had so much of its own energy Malick's name never popped up in my mind until long afterward). Fortunately, the performances in it are so good that it's quite worthwhile. Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara star as a couple who get caught up in criminal activities. The two are caught, Affleck goes to prison and Mara gets acquitted. She gives birth to their daughter, and the two live comfortably under the protection of Keith Carradine and, after a while, a police officer (Ben Foster) who harbors a crush on her. When the child is around 4, Affleck escapes from jail and goes looking for his old girlfriend. All four of the principle actors are fantastic. Mara, whose Oscar nominated performance in The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is one of the few I've skipped in the last few years (I loathed the Swedish original), has blown me away between this and Side Effects. She is the real deal. Affleck unfortunately never became the huge star he deserved to be after The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (that was six years ago!). I really wish his brother Ben would've cast him instead of himself in his last two films (it's one of the reasons that, in my opinion, Gone Baby Gone remains Ben Affleck's best film as a director). Foster, too, deserves to be a bigger star, with Oscar caliber performances in The Messenger and 3:10 to Yuma. I wish the film were a bit more original, but the acting really does sell it.

What is it about the Deep South that's so evocative in cinema? Maybe it's the timelessness. Ain't Them Bodies Saints could be set at any time during the past forty years. The sun seems forever rising or setting in this region, and filmmakers can't help but point their lens in its direction, silhouetting their beautiful actors. Terrence Malick has a lot to answer for.

It's hard not to think of Malick's first film, Badlands, when watching this. The story concerns a couple of young Texan criminals, painfully in love. When Ruth (Rooney Mara) shoots policeman Patrick (Ben Foster), her lover Bob (Casey Affleck) takes the blame and goes to jail. Bob promises he'll come for Ruth, and duly escapes incarceration. Meanwhile, Patrick is making moves on Ruth, oblivious to her guilt. All of this is under the wise, watchful eye of Skerritt, played wonderfully by Keith Carradine. As Bob closes in on Ruth, the cops and the gangsters close in on Bob.

There are times during Ain't Them Bodies Saints when writer-director David Lowery's style and technique comes across as mimicry, of Malick and also of Jeff Nichols, as well as countless American movies from the 1970s. Thankfully, he also has an interesting story to tell, and it is one presented with rich textures. At times the film flows like a visual poem, with Bradford Young's evocative cinematography melding perfectly with Daniel Hart's stirring music. The effect is of something exquisitely handmade.

Affleck's mumbled delivery here exudes danger; he's mythologising himself in the same way he once mythologised Jesse James. Mara is sentimentalised as the angelic mother, but Lowery is wise enough to suggest that this comely vulnerability is an act also - a sophisticated defence against hard men secretly seeking softness.

Perhaps the film veers too closely at times toward stylish vagueness and too far from the broken heart of the story. But there is no denying this is a serious, authored work of art.

Enjoyed "Ain't Them Bodies Saints". Good story which needs some touching up, but the acting is first rate. It is a character study, a study in melancholy told in real, human terms and not in movie terms. And maybe that is its only flaw, that truth be told, real life is less dramatic and more grimy than make-believe. Briefly, he is a crook, she is his wife/girl (it's not explained) and the two are caught in a shoot-out with police. She fires a gun wildly out a window and accidentally hits a policeman. He takes the rap, goes to jail, she has a baby and waits for him to come back.

The nominal star, at least when the movie credits rolled, is Casey Affleck, but the real star is Rooney Mara, who is excellent as the single mom waiting for Affleck. It is an earthy, sensitive portrayal of a distrustful woman on the defensive. She has made great strides since "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", a one-dimensional performance. The raw-boned Affleck plays tougher than he looks and underplays his role here. Keith Carradine was a surprise in a strong supporting role.

In my opinion the picture could use two things; tightening up and punching up. There are some dead spots throughout and the film seems longer than 105 minutes, although, as I said, real life is not always supercharged. But there must be a middle ground or else the narrative becomes sluggish. Also, no explanation was given for the 3 strangers in town. Were they Magi? The Three Stooges? We are left to wonder, and director Lowery should have given us more information in this instance.

It is very worth seeing and brightens a dreary summer full of sequels and explosion movies. If you are seeking respite from the likes of "Smurfs 2", go see this one. It's for grown ups.

At his televised 80th birthday celebrations, the esteemed British director Sir David Lean had a message to young, budding film-makers: Listen to us; learn from us. Then do your own thing.

Debutant writer-director David Lowery has clearly been influenced by the American New Wave directors of the 1970s. And then done his own thing.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints follows the relationship of Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and his partner Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara). Besieged by local Police at an isolated farmhouse, the pregnant Ruth injures an officer in the shoot out. Bob Muldoon takes the rap for this crime and is incarcerated for a long stretch. Several years later, he affects an escape from the prison in which he is held and makes his way back to his home town in rural Texas.

There is very little back-story or explanation of events in this atmospheric film. This appeared to be a deliberate ploy by Lowery. Like the Curate's egg, it was good in parts . But ultimately it left too much of the plot inchoate: who were the three men hunting down Muldoon? Bounty hunters? Erstwhile partners in crime? We weren't privy to their motives and this detracted from the narrative. This was but one example. The very title of the film is also rather enigmatic and might lead some to believe the film is more bloodthirsty than it actually is.

Casey Affleck, who has enjoyed something of a patchy and sporadic acting career to date, is perfectly cast as Muldoon. As he showed in his Oscar-nominated performance in The Assassination of the Outlaw Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Affleck has a great ability to convey a threat of violence without displaying any physical intimidation. He does so again in this film exuding a latent and uneasy menace. Hopefully this role will prove a springboard for Affleck and give him some momentum – he has good screen presence.

There was also a strong performance from Rooney Mara and support from Ben Foster and Keith Carradine.

The cinematography was, on the whole, superb. Long linking shots in subdued colour gave a great feel for the small town Texan setting amidst arable farmland. The wonky camera shots for the close ups we can put down to current, hopefully soon obsolete, fashion.

And if the pacing was a little on the slow side at times, well David Lowery is still learning his craft.

This is a very promising debut from a rookie director. He is one to watch.

Ain't Them Saint Bodies

I liked the movie "A Ghost Story" by Director David Lowery, so I searched for another movie of his which was critically praised and I landed up seeing this movie "Ain't Them Saint Bodies" The movie is a take on Bonnie and Clyde style LOVE story of a couple Bob (Casey Affleck) and his pregnant partner Ruth (Rooney Mara) who gets involved in crime activities and are caught by police, with Bob taking the blame of shooting a cop Patrick (Ben Foster) and goes to prison and daily writes a LOVE-letter to Ruth asking her to wait for him. Ruth delivers a baby girl child, and after 4 years Bob escapes from prison to be with Ruth and his daughter - hoping to live a peaceful life. Will his wish fulfill forms the remaining story. The selection of the script by Sundance even before shooting started and premier at Sundance Film festival gave a boost to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival giving it critical acclaim. The leading pair Casey Afflect and Rooney Mara's chemistry is wonderful. Director David Lowery has his distinct style with slow pace, beautiful shots, blended background score and music, on the edge characters that leave something mysterious for audiences to dwell deep into their psyche. The back-drop of Texas terrain is beautifully captured by cinematographer Bradford Young . The plot moves deliberately with sequences that take the narrative forward. The laggardness of the dialogues and interactions could have been avoided to a certain extend to make script more tight knit. The best and the most touching dialogue of the movie is the first voice-over letter he writes to Ruth from prison - It is so beautiful and carries the essence of the whole movies in those words: "Every day I wake up thinking today's the day I'm gonna see you. And one of those days, it will be so. And then we can ride off to somewhere. Somewhere far away" and it goes on... It is a classic LOVE story of a out-law couple presented in an unusual new way by David Lowery's surreal sensibilities (obviously feels like under the influence of Terrence Mallick - of Days of Heaven fame) I would go with 6.75 out of 10 for this movie.